Author: Fatimah Idera

The UK is expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state on Sunday, after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer concluded Israel had failed to meet conditions he set in July for avoiding the move. Starmer had warned that Britain would act before next week’s UN General Assembly unless there was a ceasefire in Gaza, resumed aid deliveries, and credible steps towards a two-state solution. With none of those conditions met, and Israeli settlement expansion accelerating, ministers say recognition is now unavoidable. The decision comes amid intense pressure from Washington and from families of hostages still held by Hamas, who argue the…

David Lammy has suggested the government could reverse its decision preventing Palestinian scholars from bringing their children to the UK. Thirty-four students from Gaza, including Chevening scholars, have been granted places at British universities and were evacuated last week with government support. But nearly all have been told they cannot bring their dependants, leaving around 20 children at risk of being separated from their parents. Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Lammy said: “I know the intent is to bring people to study and not to cause them further pain or hardship,” hinting that ministers could soften the…

Sir Keir Starmer and his Cabinet could face electoral wipeout as new polling suggests a Left-wing challenge led by Jeremy Corbyn and the Greens threatens dozens of Labour seats. Labour secured 411 seats at last year’s general election, but fresh analysis by More in Common indicates this would collapse to just 126 if a vote were held this autumn. Up to 52 Labour constituencies are at risk from Green Party candidates and independents aligned with Mr Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new party, many of them within a five-point margin. Support for a Corbyn-Green alliance stands at 31% of the electorate,…

An anti-asylum demonstration in The Hague spiralled into chaos as masked rioters clashed with Dutch police, leaving streets littered with debris and a police vehicle set ablaze.

A British couple held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for nearly eight months have arrived back in the UK following their release, ending a long ordeal marked by family appeals and international negotiations. Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, landed at Heathrow Airport on Saturday after travelling from Doha, where they were reunited with their daughter, Sarah Entwistle. The couple, who married in Kabul in 1970 and have Afghan citizenship, spent the past 18 years running charitable training programmes in Kabul and Bamiyan. Their work, which included education projects for women and children, had previously been approved by…

Justice Secretary David Lammy has voiced deep concerns that legalising assisted dying could pressure vulnerable elderly people into ending their lives prematurely. The Labour minister, became responsible for overseeing the proposed Terminally ill Adults (End of Life) Bill after his recent move to the Ministry of Justice. The legislation, already approved by the Commons, would allow terminally ill people in England and Wales with less than six months to live to apply for an assisted death. Lammy has previously spoken of his late mother, who died of cancer, warning she might have felt compelled to choose assisted dying had the…

Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of handing Hamas a reward for terrorism by pressing ahead with plans to formally recognise a Palestinian state. Writing to the media on her foreign policy agenda, the Conservative leader condemned Labour’s move as reckless and dangerous, warning it would undermine Britain’s global standing and weaken leverage over both Israel and Hamas. “Most of us want to see a two-state solution,” she said. “But recognition of a Palestinian state without the release of hostages is a reward for terrorism. Yet Keir Starmer plans to do just that as President Trump leaves.” Her intervention…

Wiltshire Police confirmed that a man in his 30s from West Wiltshire was first arrested in June 2024 on suspicion of six counts of gross negligence manslaughter and four counts of ill-treatment or wilful neglect by a care worker.

Scottish government minister Jamie Hepburn has resigned following allegations that he physically assaulted Conservative MSP Douglas Ross during a heated exchange at Holyrood. Ross claimed Hepburn grabbed his shoulder and swore at him aggressively after First Minister’s Questions, following a row over the scheduling of a summit on seagulls. The confrontation came after the pair had clashed in the chamber over parliamentary business. In his resignation letter, Hepburn admitted his behaviour fell short of his personal standards. “Irrespective of whether or not the Ministerial Code has been breached, I believe I have not acted in accordance with my own code…

Attorney General Lord Hermer is facing mounting political criticism after it emerged he previously provided free legal advice to a charity that helps migrants resist deportation from the UK. In 2019, Lord Hermer worked pro bono for Bail for Immigration Detainees (BiD), a legal advocacy organisation that is now actively advising migrants on how to challenge deportations under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s new UK-France returns agreement. The “one in, one out” deal aims to speed up the removal of migrants who enter the UK illegally via small boats across the Channel. The controversy comes after the Home Office managed…